Despite breaking the world transfer record over the course of the summer, the complexion of the early stages of life in the Premier League this season largely dispelled the notion Manchester United were instantly ready to challenge for the titl.

Still, it's inaccurate to claim that Jose Mourinho has had a particularly bad season in charge at Old Trafford, it's just not been a good one. It's clear the club remain in a transitional state and that work needs to be done, though the Red Devils have been lucky enough to rely on a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The talismanic forward has been a wonderful addition to the Premier League indeed and has finally brought a blockbuster feeling back to the Theatre of Dreams, though not all of the club's summer signings have worked out as hoped.

In fact, we recently asked Manchester United fans online just who, outside of Ibrahimovic, they saw as their signing of the season. As you can imagine, it threw up some interesting results.

3. Paul Pogba

The most expensive player to have ever laced up a pair of boots has struggled to wholly convince since making a return to Manchester, though the systems in which he has been deployed haven't helped him too much over the course of the season.

Still, there appears to be too much style and not enough substance in his game right now and Pogba's inability to embark on the marauding runs from midfield he became so famous for with Juventus has meant he's been forced to change his game up. Clearly, the 24-year-old will be given time to adapt, though it's not been a vintage year in his career.

2. Eric Bailly

After starting the season so well, injuries and the form of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones in central defence has seen Eric Bailly drop down in the pecking order of late. Still, the Ivorian started life in England amazingly well, looking every inch a Jose Mourinho-type central defender.

A commanding physical presence, the former Villarreal man can count himself relatively unlucky to have missed out of late, though Mourinho's recent experiment with a back-three could afford him more playing time in the future.

1. Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Much was expected of Henrikh Mkhitaryan when he initially joined Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund, though he found life difficult right away. A poor showing in the Manchester derby resulted in him being dropped altogether, though the last few months have seen the Armenian show what a wonderful player he really is.

United haven't had a winger of such technical quality in years and the 28-year-old has combined brilliantly with the likes of Juan Mata to help excite fans at Old Trafford once again, after the dark and dreary Louis van Gaal era.

Results

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